Adolphe c



(No Model.) 1

' A. C. SHARPELL.

I DRYING FRAME. No. 528.991. Patented Nov. 13, 1894.

I' I H1 I l H I INVENTOR WITNESSES ji y zl 7 ATTORNEY UNITED STATES ADOLPHE O. SHARPELL, OF NEW YORK, N.

PATENT OFFICE.

DRYING-FRAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 528,991, dated November 13, 1894.

' Application filed May 15, 1894. Serial No. 511,295. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ADOLPHE O. SHARPELL,

a citizen of the United States, residing at the city, county, and State of New York, have made a new and useful Drying-Frame, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved construction for supporting woolen or other shrinkable wearing apparel, such as underwear, to restrain the same from shrinking.

Underwear of wool, especially when all Wool fabric is used, shrinks considerably from successive washing and drying, and in the employment of my invention this is prevented by placing the washed underwear upon my frame and permitting the same to dry on it, whereby its shrinking will be prevented.

The frame which Imake use of in my invention consists preferably of a two part device, each part being conformed to the approximate exterior outline of the particular article to be supported, each part or section being movably secured, preferably hinged, one to the other, so that they can be brought close together for the purpose of drawing the shirt, drawers, 8210., over it without unduly' stretching it, and also compacting the frame together for storage or shipment, and my frame when open permits a free circulation of air therethrough for the purpose of more effectually drying the article.

My invention therefore consists in novel means for securing or holding the parts together and for suspending the frame from a clothes-line.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the frame opened out and looked in posi tion for supporting the article on a clothesline. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the frame with the parts unlocked and partly brought together in position to receive the article to be supported.

Similar numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout both the views.

I have illustrated my invention as in use with a frame having the exterior shape or contour for, and adapted to receive and support, an undershirt, although it will be apparent that such invention can be used with a frame having the general exterior contour of, say, for example, drawers, or in a frame adapted to receive what is termed a union suit or garment with both shirt and drawers connected or united in one piece.

At 1, 2 in the drawingsare the two sections of the frame, both alike in contour, each comprising a body portion 3, 4 and an outwardly extending arm 5, 6. As will be seen the arm is shaped approximately to the exterior contour of the arm of an undershirt, so as to properly confine each portion of the shirt and prevent its shrinking. The body (both sections 3, 4) below the arms is formed rectangular, as this is the usual form of the lower portion of a shirt, and'is constructed of pieces of wood 7, 8, 9 suitably fixed or dovetailed together to avoid warping, and the arms are likewise of wood and dovetailed to the pieces 7. This construction leaves the entire body of the frame open for the passage of air, as before described, and the arms can be likewise constructed, if desired. .For the purpose of folding the section together I have secured hinges 1O, 11 respectively to the pieces 8, 9, so that they will'be on the inside when the frame is folded as in Fig. 2.

WVhen the shirt is to be drawn over the frame (preferably after washing and while wet) the sections are brought together as shown in Fig. 2,the arms 5, 6 passed into the arms of the shirt, and the body of the shirt then drawn over the partly 'folded frame, thus avoiding undue stretching of the shirt. When this is done the frame sections can be opened out and locked, stretching the shirt out flat, when it is ready to be hung up to dry.

For locking the sections together and providing means for hanging the frame my combined hook and hanger is used, constructed as follows: At 12 is a hook having an eye 13 through which passes a headed screw 14 for pivotally securing the hook to the upper part and at 16 is a pin for engaging the hook to ing the pin, and the hanger 15 secured to said lock the sections together, the weight of the hook, substantially as described.

110 frame keeping the hook and pin engaged. Signed at the city, county and State of New I claim- York this 10th day of May, 1894. 5 In a drying frame, the combination with the ADOLPHE O. SHARPELL.

hinged frame sections, of the pin 16 secured Witnesses: to one section, the hook 12 pivoted to the other JOSEPH L. LEVY,

section, and provided with means for engag- WILLIAM JACOBSEN. 

